Pre - and post- COVID era: how did the pandemic impact the number of cardiovascular examinations?

Introduction A lot of evidence suggests a close link between COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases. Recent data indicate that COVID-19 may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases in the future, to an extent similarly observed in reference to the more traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Health practitioners, nurses, and doctors have a hypothesis that, since COVID began, more and more younger patients seek cardiovascular examinations. The Purpose of this study is to compare the number of cardiovascular examinations before and after the beginning of the COVID pandemic, by gender and age. Materials and Methods We examined the total number of cardiovascular examinations performed at the diagnostic center, Zan Mitrev clinic, Skopje, R. Macedonia, for a period of three years before COVID-19, i.e., from January 2017 to March 2020, and three years after the start of the pandemic, i.e. from March 2020 to March 2023. We structured the comparison by gender and age of the patients before and after COVID. Cardiovascular examination in our hospital comprises electrocardiography, echocardiography and cardiologic consultation. All of the collected data came from the Hospital Information System. Results A total of 24,496 cardiovascular examinations were performed between January 2017 and March 2020. The cohort of patients comprised 13,374 men (55%) and 11,121 (45%) women. The average age was 53±30 years. During the period from March 2020 to March 2023 a total of 33,825 cardiovascular examinations were performed, and the patients comprised 18,137 (54%) men and 15,687 (46%) women. The average age was 55±43 years. Conclusions Although there seems to be an upward trend of the number of cardiovascular examinations after the COVID pandemic started, there is no statistically significant difference between the data categorized by age and gender before and after the COVID era.